Begin Your Ecommerce Journey: Featuring Shopify

The day has come–your products are finally ready to sell, and you can’t wait to swing open the doors of your online store proudly, for all to see. What do you do first? Start with an ecommerce site, before the rest.

We we offer two types of ecommerce, for two types of businesses. First, we offer Shopify. Perfect for the beginner or someone who has limited tech skills and wants to be hands-on. The downside of Shopify’s simple platform is that its marketing opportunities are also simple. Read: limited.

Additionally, you actually don’t own your Shopify site, you simply own its content, making you beholden to Shopify and their policies and costs. WordPress with WooCommerce, on the other hand, is more flexible and you can move host companies, as well as have more flexibility in the look and functionality of your site. Choosing WooCommerce also broadens your options for more complex marketing systems.

What’s the story of Shopify? Here’s a little history lesson for you: Back in 2006, a young man from Germany was living in Canada. Selling snowboards online to make a living, he found himself frustrated by the existing systems of selling products online. His answer? He created his own ecommerce solution, addressing the inconveniences and uphill learning curves that came along with ecommerce at the time. Alas, the leading ecommerce solution of today was born. Otherwise known as Shopify.

What made the world of ecommerce go crazy for Shopify? The platform offers more than just a sales platform. It also functions as a database for your products, and an inventory management system. Shopify is also social: it allows you to sell products through social media platforms such as Pinterest and Facebook, in addition to in a point of sales situation.

So, getting to the point:

Is Shopify right for your business? Let’s find out:

Step 1: Identify your business

Does your market place fit into multiple spaces such as online, on social media, in pop-up shops, and in brick and mortar location(s)? Perhaps you’re looking to display physical products in an online catalogue, rather than simply on a shelf. Did you check yes (with your invisible pen)? That’s a job for Shopify.

Shopify includes a social media integration and an in-person POS system for events like pop-up shops, so you can sell it to all, in one. Some prime examples of industries that commonly use Shopify include retail companies selling clothing, beauty, or home products.

Digital product companies that sell products like online courses are less likely to need Shopify. Instead, their ecommerce system might be better fit for a website plugin like WooCommerce.

Step 2: Position yourself right, for your audience

An ecommerce store on its own won’t make you millions. It’s important to guide leads to your site through proper SEO for site performance in search engines, and the right social channels through digital marketing strategies that reach your market.

Step 3: Set up your online store

DIY option: Join Shopify after deciding your shop name, you’ll need to set up the system, install plugins that will increase the efficiency of your sales–like SEO, reviews etc., and set up online payments.